Request Fill 14: In Their Corner  in TBoPE series
by Caera1996
Summary: A one-shot within TBoPE series. This is the result of the anonymous request: "I'd like to see some more of Sam being a protective big brother. Maybe, eventually, he starts getting big brothery about Leonard, too."


Title: In His Corner  
>Author: Caera1996<br>Rating: G  
>Disclaimer: Not mine.<br>W/C: 1,295  
>Note  Summary: One-shot within TBoPE series (no need to read anything else to get this). This is the result of the anonymous request: "I'd like to see some more of Sam being a protective big brother. Maybe, eventually, he starts getting big brothery about Leonard, too, which would be sweet, but kind of weird what with Leonard being a little older than Sam and all."

I hope you like it!

* * *

><p>It was crowded in the ballroom. And loud. Between the band and the conversation and laughter of a couple of hundred people, it was actually almost a little overwhelming. This was not his idea of a good time…but Jim wanted to go, and Sam had been excited to invite Jim to his hotel's corporate Christmas party, and Leonard didn't have the heart to put up a fuss. Which was why he was now standing at one of the strategically-placed cocktail tables, indulging in some people-watching as he idly rolled his glass between his palms.<p>

Actually, he wasn't exactly people-watching. He was Jim-watching. Jim, who, though always good-looking, cut an especially striking and appealing figure in a suit. And with that friendly smile, and such a free laugh as he reacted to something someone said, it was easy to see why people were drawn to him. Standing with Sam, Aurelan, and a group of Sam's co-workers, he felt a twinge of jealousy at how ieasy/i it was for Jim to just…be part of the group. Any group. He always seemed to fit in, no matter what the situation was.

Leonard…didn't. Never all that social to begin with, his desire for surrounding himself with friends and acquaintances dropped off dramatically after that first year of college, and that was something that just didn't recover. He wasn't very gregarious, and events like this, they were just a little outside his comfort zone. So…while Sam was introducing his wife and brother to his associates, Leonard was watching from a safe distance.

Jim laughed at something one of Sam's co-workers was saying, and then he looked around, scanning the vicinity. Jim's smile shifted slightly when his eyes landed on Leonard. Nothing really noticeable…just a subtle change that made the smile a little more private…for him instead of for the crowd. He saw Jim say i"Excuse me"/i to the group he'd been talking to, and Leonard looked down at his glass, knowing that Jim was moving towards him.

"Hey," Jim said in his ear a moment later as he wound an arm around Leonard's waist. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine. I'm fine," Leonard said. He looked down again, feeling a little self-conscious under Jim's assessing gaze.

"Wanna get out of here for a while? There's a beautiful view off the balcony," Jim offered, easily seeing through Bones' insistence that he was "fine".

Leonard hesitated for a moment, but in the end he gave Jim a grateful smile. There was no use trying to pretend he was anything but relieved at the prospect of being able to get out of there for a few minutes. Sometimes a lot of people and noise and having to push himself to be sociable just got to be a little too much.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Leonard replied. Leaving his drink on the table, he let Jim guide him out of the ballroom with a hand at the small of his back. There were quite a few people enjoying the night, but it was such a large area it was easy to find a little piece of privacy to look out over the hill and the lights of the city beyond. Leonard took a deep, bracing breath. It was so much cooler out here, and so much quieter. And he immediately felt better.

Jim slid his hand up to Bones' shoulder, watching and feeling him relax once they got out of the crowd. He knew that this kind of thing wasn't the easiest for Bones. It was funny, he thought, how much of Bones he could see in Joanna. Not always. But at times like these, his unease in this particular situation so evident, Jim was reminded very strongly of his daughter.

"Better?" Jim asked, after a couple of moments.

"Much." Leonard let himself lean into Jim slightly, feeling comfortable in the shadows of their corner of the balcony. "I'm sorry to take you away…you looked like you were having a good time."

"Oh, nah. Don't worry about it. Thanks for coming tonight. I know it's not your idea of a great time. Sam was happy that we showed."

Sam watched from across the way as his brother slipped an arm around Leonard's waist, and rested his head on his shoulder. He smiled slightly, happy to see Jim and Leonard so happy with each other. Happy that his younger brother had someone who so obviously loved him, and grateful that their two families had meshed together so well.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" a voice said at Sam's side. Surprised, he turned from his observation of the two men to Justin, one of the people who worked in his department, who'd come up beside him.

"What?" Sam asked, looking around for something that would evoke that comment.

Justin narrowed his eyes and nodded in the direction of Jim and Leonard. "Why the hell can't they keep it to themselves? I don't want to see that shit. If they're so desperate to be all over each other, get a damn room."

Sam felt a hot anger rush over him at such blatant, blind ignorance and hate. Justin obviously had no idea he was talking about his brother, but that didn't matter at all. Slowly, taking a breath and trying to reign in the temper that couldn't be on display here, Sam turned to look at Justin, the look in his eyes enough to give him a clue that he'd seriously mis-stepped.

"I – I mean people can do whatever they want, but…"

"Don't you ever…_ever_…express that _bigoted_, _hate_-filled, _crap_ around me ever again. You're lucky we're off-duty – if this was a work function I'd fire you so fast your ass would be out the door before you even realized what happened," Sam ground out, his voice low despite the fact that fury dripped from every syllable.

"Sir, I…"

"My brother and his partner are two of the best people I've ever known."

Justin's eyes widened and he paled, glancing back over at the couple. "You're brother…"

Sam talked right over him, too incensed to even process his feeble attempt at back-pedaling.

"…And they're not doing _anything_ wrong or improper. Frankly, I found it far more _disgusting_ when you had your tongue down the throat of your girlfriend, if you want to talk about needing to keep it to yourself. What makes you think everyone else wants to see _that_?"

Sam took a deep breath and glanced around, aware that the volume of his voice had risen as he spoke.

"Get out of my sight," Sam said, effectively ending the conversation as he physically turned away from him. He felt Justin move off, and he stood for a moment, letting the cool night air calm him down. He was going to have to figure out how to deal with this in their work setting…but that was for another day. For now, he just needed a drink.

Leaving the balcony, he wandered back inside, smiling when Aurelan waved to him. He paused, waiting for her as she headed over to him.

"Hey handsome," she said, giving him a quick kiss. She pulled back, feeling that something wasn't right. "You okay?"

He sighed, and smiled wryly at her. "People are stupid," he said, not wanting to get into it here.

Aurelan smiled at the juvenile expression of his frustration. "Fighting on the playground again?" she asked. "C'mon…you promised me a dance."

Sam smiled and led her on to the floor, though his mind stayed on that playground. Aurelan had no idea how right she was. Sam had always stood up for his brother, and he always would. And now, he had another person to stand up for. Jim and Leonard might never know it, but they would always have him in their corner.


End file.
